Most companies depend on 20% of their sales force to generate 80% of revenues. Managers often track their top employees, but what about the employees who perform at moderate or mediocre levels? What can you do to inspire them to produce more?

Consider these 5 ideas…

Set Realistic GoalsWhat do you want your underachievers to achieve? More sales calls per day? A percentage increase in sales? Goals must be clear, concrete, quantifiable and reasonable. You are looking for solid, incremental improvement.

Involve the Target Group
This isn't a top-down process. As you develop new performance expectations, involve the people they're aimed at. Ask for feasible goals and how they may be achieved. Ask employees what obstacles they see and how can they increase their chances of success.

Have People Compete Against Themselves
You already know the bottom group is not going to challenge your top performers-so ask them to compete against themselves. Can Pete exceed last year's sales by 10%? Can Charlotte make 12% more telephone cold calls?

Reward and Recognize
Devise a rewards program and spread out the recognition so that it does more than honor top performers year after year. Give tangible awards such as prizes, plaques or other highly visible items to employees who exceed their goals. In other words, give the rest of the pack a reason to aspire and an opportunity to show off their new "trophies".

Communicate
Keep in touch with individuals and the group through weekly or monthly reports that mention all successful performers and their rewards. Be sure to reinforce company goals, expectations and your mission statement.

Your objective is to reach a group of people that feel under-appreciated. By showing those employees you recognize their potential and want them to tap into it, you'll motivate your staff for peak performance.